The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Last 5 news

Friday, November 13, 2015

Vatican City, 13 November 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Clementine Hall the Pope received in audience
members of the Romano Guardini Foundation attending the Congress
promoted by the Pontifical Gregorian University to commemorate the
150th anniversary of the birth of the Italian-born German priest,
theologian and writer. During the audience the president of the
foundation, Professor Ludwig von Pufendorf, announced the imminent
publication of a previously unpublished text by Guardini who, as the
Holy Father affirmed, “has much to say to the people of our time,
and not only Christians”.

Francis recalled that Guardini, in his
book “The Religious World of Dostoevsky”, cites the episode in
“The Brothers Karamazov” in which a peasant confesses to the
starec (the spiritual guide of orthodox monasteries) that she had
killed her sick husband who had mistreated her throughout his life.
The starec notes that the woman, desperately aware of her guilt, is
entirely closed in on herself and that any reflection, comfort or
counsel would meet this wall. The woman is convinced she is
condemned; however, the priest shows her the way out. Her life has
meaning, because God will receive her at the moment of repentance. He
urges her not to be afraid since there is not, and there cannot be, a
sin on earth that God cannot forgive to those who repent sincerely,
nor can there be a sin so great that it exhausts God's infinite love.
In confession the woman is transformed and receives new hope.

“The simplest people understand what
this is about”, said the Pope. “They perceive the greatness that
shines in the starec's wisdom and the strength of his love. They
understand what holiness means, that is, an existence lived in faith,
able to see that God is close to man, that He holds their life in His
hands. In this respect, Guardini says, that by accepting with
simplicity existence in the hand of God, personal will transforms
into divine will and in this way, without the creature ceasing to be
only a creature and God truly God, their living unity is brought
about”.

For Guardini, this “living unity”
with God consists of the concrete relationship of people with the
world and with others around them. “The individual feels a part of
the fabric of the population, that is, in an original union of men
that by type, country and historical evolution in life and destinies
are a single entity”. The author of “The Meaning of the Church”
considered the concept of “population” as the “compendium of
what in man is genuine, profound and substantial. We are able to
recognise in the population, as in a mirror, “field of the force of
divine action”.

“Perhaps we can apply Guardini's
reflections to our own time, seeking to uncover the hand of God in
current events”, observed the Holy Father. “In this way we will
perhaps be able to recognise that God, in His wisdom, sent us, in
rich Europe, the hungry to be fed, the thirsty to slake their thirst,
the stranger to be welcomed and the naked to be clothed. History then
shows this: if we are a population, we will certainly welcome these
as our brothers; if we are merely a group of individuals, we will be
tempted only to save our own skins, but we will have no continuity”.

The Pope greeted the members of the
Foundation, expressing his hope that Guardini's work will help them
increasingly to understand the meaning and value of the Christian
foundations of culture and society”.

Vatican City, 13 November 2015 (VIS) -
“Educating today and tomorrow: a renewing passion” is the title
of the World Congress organised by the Congregation for Catholic
Education to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Gravissimum
educationis”, the Vatican Council II Declaration on Christian
education, and the 25th of “Ex corde Ecclesiae (Apostolic
Constitution on Catholic Universities). The event will take place in
Rome from 18 to 21 November.

The Congress was presented this morning
in the Holy See Press Office by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect
of the Congregation for Education, Bishop Angelo Vincenzo Zani,
secretary of the same congregation, and Professor Italo Fiorin,
director of the “Educating in encounter and solidarity” School of
Higher Education at the Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA),
Rome.

Cardinal Versaldi commented that these
commemorative events highlight the participation of the Congregation
for Catholic Education in the educational passion of the Church,
which “is still aware today – as is stated in the incipit of the
conciliar document whose fiftieth year we are celebrating – 'how
extremely important education is in the life of man and how its
influence ever grows in the social progress of this age'. Aware of
this, the most recent consequence is the World Congress”.

Bishop Zani went on to explain that the
idea of the Congress emerged during the plenary session of the
cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for Catholic Education in
2011, in in which they discussed the Department's future lines of
action and Pope Benedict XVI, in his discourse, referred to the two
anniversaries in 2015. This led to the choice of date for the
Congress. In 2012, around fifty experts from around the globe met in
Rome to identify pending problems regarding education promoted by the
Church all over the world, and to make some first suggestions to
relaunch important educational activities carried out by many
Catholic institutions. The results of the seminar were gathered into
a document bearing the same title as the Congress, and were sent to
interested parties along with a questionnaire to be returned to the
dicastery. “The reaction was surprising”, said Bishop Zani, “We
received thousands of answers to the online questionnaire and
hundreds of postal responses”.

The November Congress was preceded in
June by a UNESCO international forum on education, attended by
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. “Educating today and
tomorrow: a renewing passion” will open on 18 November in the Paul
VI Hall with a session describing new scenarios in education and the
aims of the meeting, and will continue on 19 and 20 November in other
places, considering four themes: the identity and mission of Catholic
schools and universities, the subjects of education and their various
responsibilities (bishops, parents, directors, teachers and
students), the formation of formators and the challenges of today and
tomorrow. On 21 November the participants, more than 2,200 in number,
will be received in audience by the Holy Father.

The prelate emphasised, however, that
the Congress will not be an end in itself, but may instead represent
a new beginning in collaboration with the Congregation for Catholic
Education and various other institutions. For example, there have
been some requests for a General Directory of Catholic education,
summarising the essential principles and norms issued in documents
from the Council to today, relating to Catholic educational
institutions, and the constitution of a working group for this
purpose. Another aspect that emerged from the answers to the
questionnaire is the need for a permanent centre of Christian
inspiration to study pedagogical problems. This proposal has been
accepted by LUMSA and a few months ago the “Educating in encounter
and solidarity” School of Higher Education was established.

On 28 October this year Pope Francis
constituted by chirograph the new Foundation “Gravissimum
Educationis”, to study particular situations and to implement
original and innovatory problems, especially in the most difficult
situations. Finally, a small working group will be formed to study
the legal problems that inevitably emerge in various parts of the
world, especially following changes to constitutions or laws that may
endanger the survival of Catholic schools and universities.

- Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri,
apostolic nuncio in Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, as
apostolic delegate in the Comoros Islands, with the function of
apostolic delegate in La Reunion, France.